Requited
by Aqua-Sakuras
Summary: Girl's tennis at Seishun is less than great. Everyone knows that. When a new tranfer student comes, she is determined to play tennis as much as she can, even if it means braving the Boy's Tennis club. RyomaxOC.
1. First Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis. Duh.

Chapter 1: Meeting

Ryoma headed out the door in a hurry. Like almost every other day, he was late; unlike every other day, Momo-sempai was not waiting in front of his house with a grin. Ryoma belatedly remembered how Momoshiro-sempai had mentioned in passing that his bike broke down last weekend.

With a half-eaten onigiri in his hand and his backpack in the other, Ryoma dashed down the road in a rare flurry of panic. Though school wasn't the most important thing, Seishun Academy did have strict attendance rules: three days of being late to classes results in a suspension from sports; six would cause a parent to be called in; as for ten, the school handbook as it that "extreme actions will be taken," but no one has actually found out. Ryoma had already been late twice this school year and had no intention of missing tennis for a whole _week_ because of something he could prevent.

In the distance, he noticed a moving truck in front of a neighboring house. Normally, it wouldn't be odd at all, but he'd learned that arrivals to this sleepy little town are few in the coming. That had been one of the reasons why his arrival had been such a big deal.

He slowed to a trot as the house loomed nearer. The house was the same as every other house on the block other than the white, mammoth moving truck and two bulky men who Ryoma assumed to be moving men in front. The moving man in the front appeared to be carrying a sky-high stack of chair while his partner looked to be carrying a full barrel of…tennis rackets? Ryoma frowned and edged closer to get a better look. Who in the world could use that many rackets? Just then, the warning bell of Seigaku rang; its large bell allowed the sound to reverberate through the neighborhoods surrounding the school, including this one. Ryoma flinched and ran as fast as he could toward the school, forgetting completely about the strange sight.

OOOOOOOO

After school, Ryoma stretched with a yawn on his way to the tennis courts.

Though it had been a really close call, Ryoma had managed to get in class before the teacher (who was right behind him) entered. _Safe, as they would say in baseball,_ he thought, smirking.

Crossing the courtyard, his smirk vanished when he saw a petite girl and two hulking seniors standing together. Though he didn't like interfering with other people most of the time, he had a hard spot towards bullies, which was what this situation seemed like to him.

He had seen the two boys around before, harassing kouhai, especially the female ones. It was easy enough to identify them from their attire; Blond hair and black, sloppy uniforms, predatory grin. The girl though, he had never seen. Her features were defined and slightly too sharp; her eyes were same dark brown as most Japanese. Nothing special- but her hair, tied up into a tall ponytail, was what caught his attention. Her hair was a light shade of brown that glittered beautifully in the sunlight, like the way the waves caught the light on water. _Bronze_, he thought. She wore the school uniform, and held a bulging black sports bag. The girl had high red spots on her face and seemed to be talking earnestly. The two boys edged closer.

_Not if I can help it!_ Ryoma strode purposely toward the group and was just about to speak up with a cliché like "Pick on someone your own size" when he heard what they were talking about.

"Wow, your hair's natural?" The boy with the obviously dyed blond hair said with a sort of awe.

"Yeah," the girl replied, "but let me tell you, dye from the _Lussac_ brand works so well!"

"How would you know?" The dark haired one spoke up.

"Oh, my sister is obsessed with the thing!"

"Do you think hot or cold wash is better for dyed hair?"

"Oh, it depends… Hi, who are you?"

With a jolt, Ryoma realized the girl was talking to him. As he struggled to come up with a decent answer, the girl bounced over to him with a startling sort of speed. She looked at his tennis bag and gave him a wide grin. "Do you play tennis?" She asked with twinkling eyes.

He nodded, relieved that he wouldn't have to talk.

"Oh great! Can you please take me to the tennis courts? I have been looking for it for so long!"

He nodded again, but more decisively. Finally, he could control the situation!

"Bye!" She waved to the two boys, who _waved back_.

"So, who are you?"

A/N: My first story! Be kind! I know that OCs tend to be very Mary Sue, but I'll try my best. BTW, this will be a RyomaOC story, simply because I have issues with Sakuno. It's not that she's bad and that I hate her, but I think Ryoma's relationship with someone with a more open, quirky person would be more interesting. Thank you for reading! And please keep reading!


	2. School

Chapter 2

_"Oh great! Can you please take me to the tennis courts? I have been looking for it for so long!"_

_Ryoma nodded again, but more decisively. Finally, he could control the situation!_

_"Bye!" She waved to the two boys, who __waved back__._

_"So, who are you?"_

OOOOO

"Who are you?" He responded rudely, still thrown off his balance by girl's strange manner.

She blinked. "Oh, I didn't tell you my name yet? I'm so sorry! I get caught up in my own world and, well, I'm getting off topic again aren't I?"

Ryoma nodded mutely even though she didn't seem to be looking for an answer.

The girl grinned mischievously, reminding him of Eiji. "My name is Sakurai Ranna. Please take care of me!" She bowed quickly and looked at him expectantly.

"Echizen Ryoma."

"Ryoma-kun," She said slowly, as if tasting the name. Ryoma wondered if he should feel violated.

The girl stopped abruptly and looked up. She blinked rapidly and whispered, "I had a….very good friend named that before…"

Ryoma pause too and looked at her. What a truly strange girl. Maybe she was bi-polar? The more serious side of him wondered if and how he should comfort her. Luckily, the girl -Sakurai-san- smiled sadly at him and continued walking. He resumed walking too, but noticed that the girl was significantly quieter. It took them only 5 minutes to arrive at the tennis courts. Ryoma pointed her off the Ryuuzaki-sensei's direction and walked away.

That night, Ryoma went to sleep with swishing bronze hair in his mind.

OOOOO

The next day, all was normal. Momo-sempai got his bike fixed. The moving van was gone. Still, Ryoma felt like something was different. The reason revealed itself when class started.

"Everyone," The teacher announced with her annoying nasally voice, "We have another transfer student from America. Meet Sakurai Ranna."

Ryoma sat up from his seat when he heard the name. He glanced at the empty seat next to him with dread; he didn't think he could survive the rest of the year with her next to him.

To his surprise, Sakurai walked timidly into the room. Her hair was loose and her head was bowed. She looked up almost fearfully and tried for a smile. "Hi, e-everyone," She stuttered slightly when her American accent came through, "I'm Sakurai Ranna, please take care of me!" She bowed lightly.

Ryoma was stunned. He had thought the girl weird, outspoken, and open. Was this even the same girl?

The teacher was oblivious to the chattering of the class as she announced, "Please welcome Sakurai-san, class. Sakurai," She flinched slightly when her name was called, "you can sit next to Echizen. Echizen, raise your hand."

Ryoma lazily and reluctantly complied. The girl's whole face brightened when she saw him. Ryoma looked away, not wanting to bear responsibility. It came to him anyways.

"Echizen, you will be in charge of showing Sakurai-chan around the school. She probably doesn't understand Japanese that well yet since unlike you, she was brought up in an American family."

Ryoma's caught on to several discrepancies almost immediately. Why did she look Japanese and have a Japanese name? The hair, maybe, was proof or being foreign. Still, where else would she meet a "Ryoma" if not in Japan? His racing thoughts froze though when she sat down and whispered breathily, "I look forward to knowing you, Ryo-kun." Ryoma felt a tingle of electricity rush through him at the familiarity of the words and looked sharply at the girl, who was now arranging her things.

Ryoma tried to fight the smirk that crawled onto his face. No matter what, this was going to be an interesting year for all of them.

A/N: Honorifics will be used in this story, which is why Ryoma called Ranna "Sakurai-san" or just "Sakurai." Ranna, on the other hand, came from America very recently and isn't used to being so formal all the time, so she is more prone to talking in an informal way.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Office

Chapter 3

_Ryoma tried to fight the smirk that crawled onto his face. No matter what, this was going to be an interesting year for all of them._

OOO

"Umm, hello?" Ranna peered into the office of the tennis coach that Ryoma had shown her yesterday. She had needed to go home early that day to finish off the registration papers that she turned in this morning. Finally, it was lunchtime, and she could come and ask.

A woman with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail looked up from the desk she was writing something at. "Who are you?" She asked.

"Oh, my name is Sakurai Ranna. I'm looking for the coach of the girl's tennis team…"

"I see," the woman scrutinized Ranna, but seemed to find what she was looking for. She broke out in a grin and introduced herself. "I'm Ryuzaki Sumire, the coach of the boy's tennis team and the math teacher for 3rd years. Here, I'll take you to Takeru-sensei's office. She's the coach for the girl's team. Are you a first year?

"Um, yeah." Ranna rushed to follow Ryuzaki-san's broad steps.

"Well, do you know Sakuno?"

"Yes." Ranna thought of the quiet girl with the twin braids that had taken the attendance this morning. She had smiled at Ranna in the hallway, for which Ranna was grateful for.

"I'm also Sakuno's grandmother."

"Oh! Wow."

"You didn't know?"

"Uh, no." They walked for a while in a silence that Ranna hoped was confortable, but felt awkward to her. Their footsteps echoed in the wide hallway that intersected with another corridor.

"So, are you going to join our tennis team?" Ryuzaki asked as they turned. The girl next to her looked lithe and she was able to see her toned legs; too bad her talent would be wasted in a place like the Seigaku girl's tennis team…

"Yes, I want to."

"Well, feel free to stop by the boy's practices any time to watch. Districts are coming up too, and they can have some pretty intense practices." She chuckled, thinking of the last match between Ryoma and Inui during the ranking matches.

Ranna smiled softly, "I would like that." There was another short silence. "Um, by the way, is Ryoma-kun on the tennis team?"

"Yes. He's quite the rising star! He's the only freshman on our regulars' team."

"Oh." Ryuzaki wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but the seemingly shy girl grinned widely. "I would like very much to play a match with him."

Ryuzaki stayed silent, not wanting to tell her that her chances of winning were minimal. "Well, here we are!" She waved a hand grandly at the empty courts. "Takeru is at the furthest office to the right. The other rooms are locker rooms."

"All of them?"

"Yes," Ryuzaki grimaced. The girl regulars had demanded enough space for "powder rooms," "shower rooms," and an extra room where all the others gathered. Since no one else really used the locker rooms anyhow, it wasn't such a big deal. Still, it had never sat well with herself that they should be allowed the extra privileges. While it was true that the regulars were a step above the rest of the students, (it probably helped that the regulars were Takeru's very own daughter and her friends) it wasn't much and she was extremely tempted to bring in one of _her_ regulars to teach them a lesson. She shook her head to rid herself of wayward thoughts and smiled at the first year broadly. "Well, off you go then! I'll stop by tomorrow too to help you if you need it."

"Ah. I'll be fine, don't trouble yourself," said Ranna, though her eyes were roaming the courts. She turned back to smile sweetly at Ryuzaki, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem." She answered easily while simultaneously making a metal note to check up on the innocent looking girl. She then started to head back to her office after a wave. Right before she turned the corner, she looked back and saw that the girl – Ranna - had disappeared. _Well,_ she cocked her head, _one more question to ask Ryoma._

OOO

"Hey," Ryoma nudged Ranna, who had collapsed onto her table after lunch.

"Hi~" She answered faintly, raising one cheek up slightly, "Has class started already?"

"No," he glanced at the clock and the around the empty room, "There's about ten more minutes." After all, the weather was amazing this time of year and almost everybody took lunch outside. In fact, he only came back in because Horio started blabbing about the greatness of some other tennis star again.

"Oh," she sighed and said in English, "thank goodness." She closed her eyes for a few seconds before asking, "By the way, do you have food? I completely forgot to bring my lunch today! I am starving!"

He regarded her skeptically, "One meal can do that to you?"

"Yes!"

Well, he had no answer to that… He dug around in his backpack for a spare sandwich and found half. "Here," he handed the wrapped item to Ranna, who jumped on it.

"Are you sure it's alright?" She asked, though her eyes were trained on the sandwich and her hands were already on the wrapper.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you!" Ranna wasted no time with unwrapping and devouring it eagerly. "Hmm," she said with her mouth full, "Dish ish really good."

"Uh, sure." Ryoma leaned back to look at the girl who seemed so lethargic just moments ago. He turned his head sharply when he heard the creaking of the door opening and relaxed again when he saw that it was just the teacher for the next class, English.

"Good afternoon, Echizen-kun, Sakurai-chan." She said in English while smiling.

"Good afternoon, Nanoko-sensei." Ryoma answered in fluent English.

"Mff," Ranna choked down the last bit of sandwich as fast as she could and greeted cheerfully the teacher, "How do you do?"

"Why, I'm fine," the teacher smiled in response, "thank you for asking, but in Japanese schools, it's more formal. The students normally greet the teacher formally when they walk in the class since students are expected to come to class earlier than the teacher," she explained, "I only came early because I need to prepare some papers."

"Oh." Ranna said, looking down into her seat and blushing, "Oops."

"Oh, yes, Ryoma-kun, I heard from your homeroom teacher that you were supposed to show Ranna-chan around, isn't that right?" She asked pleasantly while gathering her papers at her desk.

"Uh…"

"Well, since both of you are from America anyhow, why don't you use my class period to give Ranna-chan here a tour of the school?"

"Sure…" Ryoma agreed reluctantly. While he didn't want to shoulder the extra responsibility, he also really didn't want to sit through another class full of things that he already knew and a teacher that loved to use him as a role model.

"Off you go then!" Nanoko-sensei said as she headed out the door, "Don't be here when I get back!" She winked.

"Well," Ryoma sighed, "Let's go."

A/N: Sorry, writer's block already…Combine that with a busy summer, and well…yeah… I'm trying to work more on this story now though. Please read and review! It really makes me happy.


	4. Koneko

Chapter 4

_"Off you go then!" Nanoko-sensei said as she headed out the door, "Don't be here when I get back!" She winked._

_ "Well," Ryoma sighed, "Let's go."_

OOO

"Oh, uh, are you sure you don't mind?" Ranna asked anxiously.

"It doesn't really matter if I mind or not. The teacher said so."

"Ah." Ranna frowned, but got up and followed Ryoma anyways. "So," she started once they were outside, "Who do you normally eat with?"

Ryoma just looked at her. The desired effect – that she would stop and apologize for her audacity – was not achieved. She looked back at him and held his gaze curiously. Ryoma found that he could not hold her gaze. It wasn't that it was piercing or particularly deep, but her stare was so incredibly unfathomable. Ranna was a contradiction, Ryoma thought to distract himself, Japanese and American, unfathomable but open, sociable yet shy.

"Oi! Ochibi!"

"Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma turned to see Kikumaru-sempai and Oishi-sempai waving at him and walking over. "Hi, sempai. What are you doing here?"

Eiji bounded over and ignored Ryoma's question completely when he caught sight of Ranna, who was trying to make herself as invisible as possible. "Ha ha! Ochibi brought a girlfriend."

Ranna blushed, "Uh, no, Ryoma's just showing me around the school. I'm new here."

"Eiji-sempai," Ryoma called, annoyed. No matter what, she was his responsibility for now.

"Oh, oh, do you play tennis?" Kikumaru-sempai asked Ranna, ignoring Ryoma again.

"Yep," Ranna smiled shyly.

"Play me!" Kikumaru-sempai demanded eagerly.

"Eiji…" Oishi-sempai chided his best friend, "We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!"

"Oh, right, right." Kikumaru-sempai grinned, "Hey there, I'm Kikumaru Eiji. I'm a third year here at Seishun."

Oishi smiled kindly down at the girl, who was Ryoma's height, "And I'm Oishi Shuichiro. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Ranna Sakurai, erm, that is, Sakurai Ranna." Ranna blushed, mindful of her mistake.

"Oh, are you from America like Ryoma-kun?" Oishi asked.

"Yes."

"How nice," Oishi smiled at Ryoma, "Now you can have a friend that's speaks the same language as you."

"Hn." Ryoma grunted. Their shared language didn't really matter considering both of them are fluent in Japanese as well, "Besides that, don't you guys need to get to your classes? Lunch for the third years ends around now." Ryoma looked towards the nearest clock meaningfully. He wasn't sure why, but the fact that Eiji seemed to have taken an interest in Ranna irritated him.

"Ah! Ochibi is right! Bye, Ochibi! Bye, Koneko!"

"See you at practice, Ryoma," Oishi waved as he ran after Eiji, who had started on a sprint to his next class.

"Yeah." He called after them, not sure if he was heard. _Wait, Koneko? Kitten? If Ranna has a nickname too then that must mean Eiji really likes her..._

"Wow, you know a lot of people, Ryo-kun."

_That nickname again, _Ryoma thought,_ She seemed to do it unconsciously._ Well, whatever, it didn't make that much of a difference anyways. "Yeah, kinda. They're both in tennis club with me."

"Oh…" She absorbed that information for a while. "Are there regulars here too?"

"Yeah," Ryoma wondered where this conversation was going, "So?"

Ranna's eyes twinkled, "Wow, they must be pretty good. It sounds like it would be really fun to play with them."

"Are you good?"

"Eh, well, kind of, I suppose."

"Kind of" wasn't going to win any matches against Tezuka-taicho, or even him, but he didn't want to tell her that. From all the matches that he'd played with girls so far, he was willing to wager that she would probably match Horio at best. Oh well, it wasn't like it was any of his business.

Ryoma started walking to the nurse's office, sighing and grumbling. "Well, are you coming?"

A/N: Sorry, but my laptop died , hence the late update…. On a brighter note, there's a url below to a picture of Ranna, drawn by yours truly. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner so I had to use the computer's camera, which made it blurry. Sigh… Anyways, comments on the picture and review are both welcome!

art/Sakurai-Ranna-317579164


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